


All In A Name

by Mooselk



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Epithets, Gen, Pre Darkening, Racism, Valinor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5021860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mooselk/pseuds/Mooselk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aredhel deals with some societal nonsense when it comes to her epithet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All In A Name

Iríssë’s grandmother has beautiful skin the color of the sweet, hot drink that the farmers from the south sell at big markets, dark and warm. Small freckles the color of weak tea stand out against her fingers and when Iríssë traces them, Indis laughs and presses her hands to her granddaughter’s, saying that it’s not only her mother that Iríssë takes after.  
Iríssë is paler than both her brothers and almost as light-skinned as her Noldorin mother, not to mention her father. Nolofinwë did not take much from his mother’s people, but he shares Indis’ beautiful skin. But unlike Arafinwë who takes advantage of his Light-resistant complexion, Nolofinwë bundles himself up in court robes at every given moment. Iríssë does not understand this at all. If she had been lucky enough to have the wonderful skin of the Vanyar, she wouldn’t hide it away but put it on display to silence the wagging tongues of the youth of Tirion that always seem to follow her around.  
Iríssë the Pale, they call her, and she despises it. She isn’t pale, not compared to them. Any one of the full-blooded Noldor with skin like hers would be the cause of much envy for their dark skin. But because of her Vanyarin grandmother, Iríssë is set apart and stared at.   
If anyone deserves the epithet, it should be Tyelkormo, she thinks bitterly, who not only has Míriel’s silver hair but her rare, white, easily damaged skin as well. But no, Tyelkormo is known as the Fair. For a brief time, she wished to have his skin but then she had seen the awful burns he had received the one time he ventured into Tirion in a short-sleeved tunic and the jealousy vanished in a flash.   
Most frustratingly, all of her siblings and cousins have better titles than her! Findekáno is the Valiant and Turukáno the Wise. Curufinwë is Crafty, and to the source of both her and Tyelko’s unending amusement, Macalaurë is the Mighty. Even Nelyo’s rather unimaginative description “the Tall” is not as bad as hers.   
Something needs to be done about her epithet. Iríssë puzzles over it for a couple of days before realizing that while stopping it completely is nearly impossible, changing it would not be as difficult. She considers doing something reckless (Findekáno got his name by riding with a herd of wild horses) but decides against it. She doesn’t fancy being known as Iríssë the Insane, although it would be a far cry better than this Pale nonsense!  
She begins wearing white. All the blue dresses she owns are quickly moved to the back of the wardrobe and replaced with white corsets, white skirts, white tunics, white, white, white. Sapphire necklaces are swapped for pearls from Alqualondë, her riding boots are dyed pale beige. She even gets a set of white hunting clothes that she rides out in only to quickly change into something less conspicuous when in the privacy of the woods.   
She deals with her father’s hurt looks and her brother’s teasing. It is worth it for the whispers that she hears in the crowd of a ball she attends.  
A young girl whispers to her friend, “That’s her, look. Iríssë the White. Isn’t she beautiful?”  
Iríssë tosses the name around in her head, deciding she likes the sound of it. Even an idiot would know that this title does not refer to her complexion. Besides, in the blindingly white dress she is wearing that day, her skin looks almost Vanyarin.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is like two years old but its also the beginning of my collection of fic about the various appearance head canons I have so I will be posting all of it over the next month or so.


End file.
